In Episode 68, I demonstrated a zero-tech method of including two classic board games into your instruction. In this episode, Stephanie Howell will take gamification to a whole new level.

@mrshowell24

Stephanie is an Instructional Technology Coordinator at the Pickerington Local School District in suburban Columbus, Ohio. Stephanie and I have interacted for a while and I wanted to interview her last year, but we kept searching for the perfect topic. We found it! She’s going to enlighten all of us about gamifying our next lesson. I’m certainly going to try this this fall. Stephanie promotes challenging students to solve a mystery by mimicking the classic board game Clue.

But here, dear listener, is the exciting part. Stephanie has done much of the work for us! After you’ve listened to the episode, watch this 17-minute step-by-step instructional video.  After you grasp the big picture, navigate to this Google Doc. This is your roadmap to an outstanding gamified lesson. Copy any or all of Stephanie’s docs and manipulate them to fit your class.

Episode Template

The Problem:

You need a fresh way to inspire learning.

The Solution:

Gamify your next lesson.

What you can do Tomorrow:

• Watch Stephanie’s instructional video.
• Make copies of Stephanie’s resources.
• Craft an irresistible hook.
• Create a suspect list.
• Build the game questions.
• Plan how you’re going to include student movement.
• Strategize how you’re going to prevent students from spilling the beans to friends who have your class later in the day.

Gamify your next lesson and introduce, collaboration, engagement, competition, and fun!

Please visit my Amazon Author’s Page.

Listen to “107-Gamify your Next Lesson…Starring Stephanie Howell” on Spreaker.

Jim Mahoney

Jim Mahoney is a fantastic public speaker. My original intention for this episode was to help teachers improve their presentations. Yes…this interview provides such direction, but as my convo with Jim evolved, it became apparent that teacher presentations was just one layer of onion skin. Jim’s been in the teaching biz for 47 years. He’s been a teacher, coach, principal, central office administrator, superintendent, the Executive Director of Battelle for Kids, and finally…he’s returned home to the classroom. Jim now enlightens future teachers as a professor at Ohio University.

In this episode Jim delves into hooks, transitions, lesson plans, evaluations, reading, presentation, public speaking, storytelling, student-led learning, and more. This is a man that has seen plenty of change and has embraced plenty of change. What shines through is fierce passion for kids and deep wisdom about how to foster learning. Please visit Jim’s website to learn more about him, sign-up for his book notes, or ask him a question. Consider this interview a pep-talk for the 2018-2019 school year!

Episode Template

The Problem: Lesson delivery can grow stale.

The Solution: Experiment with your first day presentation

What you can do Tomorrow:

• Decide what kids must master that first day.
• Evaluate how you’ve unveiled these ideas in the past.
• Craft a marvelous hook. Perhaps, in a subtle way, challenge students to determine the relevancy of your subject. For ideas on hooks, check out this episode. 
• Create a brief opening presentation which includes some biographical info and some broad course objectives. Encourage audience participation in this presentation. For ideas on how to include student participation in your presentations, check out this episode. 
• Plan how to challenge students with a problem. A marvelous activity would be for groups to peer-teach classroom procedures. For ideas on promoting classroom procedures, check out this episode.
• Incorporate a segment for debriefing.
• Consider how to utilize this template in future lessons.

Commandeer an idea from this episode and use it on Day 1. You may discover a wonderful template that facilitates profound learning.

Listen to “106-47 Years of Enticing Kids to Lean Forward…Starring Jim Mahoney” on Spreaker.